London house prices: Demand plummets for the capital's luxury apartments

Having previously worked at Property Week and Management Today, my areas of expertise are housing, entrepreneurs and leadership, as well as cars and the automotive industry. In 2015 I won the British Media Awards' Rising Star of the Year award.

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Emma Haslett

Demand for super-prime developments such as One Hyde Park has plummeted, the research suggested (Source: Getty)

Could the bottom be about to fall out of London's luxury property market? New research has suggested demand in the capital's most exclusive areas is falling: in fact, over the past month, it's fallen by three per cent.

The findings, by online estate agent Emoov, suggest that despite the Mansion Tax no longer being a threat, the ultra-rich aren't taking any chances.

The biggest falls in demand have come in the capital's most exclusive areas, the findings showed: demand in St John's Wood has fallen by 37 per cent between May and June, while Mayfair fell 29 per cent and Belgravia fell 23 per cent.

However, the rule didn't apply to all London's upmarket areas: in picturesque Primrose Hill, for example, demand has rocketed 264 per cent in one month, while interest in Fitzrovia has risen 93 per cent.

Nightmare in Knightsbridge? London's biggest falls in demand

1. St John's Wood: -37%

2. Mayfair: -29%

3. Belgravia: -23%

4. Notting Hill: -21%

5. Chiswick: - 20%

6. Knightsbridge: - 15%

7. Chelsea: -10%

8. Fulham: -9%

9. Islington: -4%

10. Kensington: -3%

To be fair, it's not just the well-heeled areas affected by this: figures published yesterday by Emoov showed Nine Elms, where thousands of homes are currently being built, was one of the UK's property "cold spots" over the past three months. Meanwhile, demand was up in London's commuter belt, with Bexley, Sutton, Watford, Reading and Guildford all featuring in the top 10.

Russell Quirk, Emoov's founder, pointed out that "there [aren't] many who will shed a tear for the well-heeled, sharp-suited Mayfair type property predators".

"They have long crawled along the golden streets of prime central London, yet it seems that the tide has turned with volumes of stock collapsing and high end businesses teetering on the brink of financial ruin.

"Given the colossal fall in demand, it could be several years before the PCL market recovers. Probably even longer before this demand drives prices back to the grossly inflated heights of 2013/14.”